Key case and selector



y 8, 1952 s. s. LANE 2,602,320

' KEY CASE AND SELECTOR Filed Oct. 6, 1949 Patented July 8, 152

(Granted under the act of March 3, 18st; as

amended April 39, 1923; 370 O. G 757) Lfhe invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

, Thisinvention relates to key cases and has for its primarypurpose to incorporate therein an efiective means for facilitating the selection of a desired key from a plurality of keys suspended within the case. p

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a selector mechanism which may be operated to swing the selected key outwardly from itsnormally suspended position in the case, so that-the key may be readily grasped for insertion into the-keyhole of alock.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a selector, mechanism for a keycase which is so constructed as to permit determina tion of the properkeyby the sense of touch, so as to permit the proper, key to be selected in the dark. I i Other'objects and. advantages of the invention will be apparent from-the following description when taken in connection with the accompanyingv drawings; in which,

1 Figural is a perspective view thekey'case and selector; g r 1 Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the selector-in a difierentfform of case;

of one form of =Fig. 311s a fragmentary vertical sectionalview through the case of Figure l; and I Figure 4 is a similarview showing the selector in its operative position in ejecting a key foruse:

More specifically, the numeral i indicates the key case proper which may be formed of any pre-- ferred fabric, leather, etc. In the upper portion of the case is mounted the support for the keys and the selector mechanism, and the front of the case may be provided with any suitable opening through which the. keys may be projected, and a closure flap 2 therefor which is preferably secured by a conventional zipper fastener 3.

, The supportfor-the keyslincludes' a rigid frame ll ofmetal brother relatively stiff sheet material arranged'in rectangular form and maintains the casing in distendedcondition. The frame may be-"suitablysecured in its position in the upper end of the case i, by means of rivets or the like 4. Mounted in the frame 4 and extending I longitudinally thereof is a rod 5, on which are oscillatably mounted the individual key holders 6, provided with conventional hooks I over the beaks of which the keys may be threaded by reason of the usual apertures provided in the handle portions of the keys. In the present illustration, four of these individual key holders 6 are shown and they may be equally spaced along the rod 5, by means of spacer elements 8, which encircle the rod between the key holders, and similar but somewhat smaller spacer elements 9, which space the outermost keys from the ends of thecasing i. V y

Spaced slightly above the rod 5 and in parallel ism therewith is a shaft I0, here shown as of rectangular cross-section, although it is to be understood that the shaft may be of any preferred cross-sectional shape or design so long as it is capable of keying the selector thereto, as will be referred to below. The shaft in is oscillatably mounted in the endsof the rigid frame 4 and may have one end extending outwardly of the frame and the casing i, so as to receive an operatingknob ii, whereby the shaft may be oscillated.

The selector may be formed in the shape of frame is provided with a slot [6 and a shank on the selector element It, extends through the,

slot to the exterior of the key case and is provided with an operating head ll, which in turn, may be provided with a pointer or indicator [8. Suitable indicia may be placed on the upper wall of 'the'case I, as indicated by the numeral it, so as to clearly designate the particular key occupying the space in that part of the casing. The upper wall of the case may also be provided with'a plurality of stop elements 26, here shown as circular depressions and adapted to cooperate with a nib 2|, formed on the underside of the operating head i'l. It is to be understood, of course, that these stop elements 2|] are formed on the case in alignment with the several key supports; and that they serve to releasably hold the selector member 17 in any one of the fourv positions of the present embodiment of the invention.

In order that a key may be selected for use, the invention provides for projecting it mechanically part way through the opening in the front wall of the key case I, and to this end each of the key holders 6 is provided with a projection or arm 22 extending toward the rear of the case,

while the selector block I2 is provided with a rearwardly extending projection 23 capable of being brought into alignment with the projection 22, as heretofore indicated. In Figure 4 the selector I2 is shown as having been brought into alignment with one of the key holders 6 and as having been rocked so as to project one of the keys part Way through the opening in the front of the case, thereby indicating the proper key and facilitating its being grasped by the owner for insertion into its lock.

In the operation of this novel key case and selector, it is only necessary to move the selector head I! to that part of the casing where the indicator I8 will point to the indicia designating the desired key and then oscillate the shaft 4 by rotating the operating knob H, so as to press the projection 23 against the projection 22 on the particular key holder 6, thereby swinging the selected key outwardly of the casing; it being understood, of course, that the flap 2 has been moved to open position by operation of the zipper 3. This movement is permitted by reason of the frictional engagement of the fingers I4 with the ends of the block I2. In other words, the selector element I3 and its fingers M will remain stationary while the shaft l and block [2 are oscillated to project a key from the case. As heretofore mentioned, the selector is releasably held in selected position by cooperation of the stop elements 2ll-2I- on the casing l and operating head [1, respectively, and the stop elements 20 may also serve to indicate the proper key when the indicia I9 is not legible as at night time, by the sense of touch.

The construction of the key holder and selector shown in Figure 2 is identical with that shown in the other figures but is shown as mounted in a conventional key case 25, that is, a case which opens out fiat and is provided with a zipper fastener 26 which serves to secure the three free edges of the case.

In compliance with the patent statutes, I have set forth herein the preferred'construction and manner of operation of the novel key case and selector, but it is to be understood that the present disclosure is merely illustrative of the invention and that various structural variations may be incorporated therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended that such variations be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A key case including a rod, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted on the rod, a second rod disposed in parallelism with the firstmentioned rod, a selector block slidably mounted on said second rod and adapted to be rotated about its axis, said selector block including a projection adapted to engage and oscillate a selected key holder when the selector block is brought into alignment with the particular key holder and rotated about its axis.

2. A key case including a rod, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted on the rod, a shaft oscillatably mounted above the rod and in parallelism therewith, a selector block slidably mounted on the shaft and keyed thereto, said selector block including a projection adapted to engage and rock a selected key holder when the selector block is brought into alignment therewith and the shaft is oscillated in the proper direction.

3. A key case including a frame, a rod mounted therein, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted on the rod, a shaft oscillatably mounted above the rod and in parallelism therewith, a selector block slidably mounted on the shaft and keyed thereto, cooperative means on theframe and selector block for releasably securing the latter in alignment with any one of the key holders, and a projection on the selector block adapted to engage and oscillate a key holder when the selector block is brought into alignment with a particular key holder and oscillated in the proper direction.

4. A key case including a rod, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted on the rod, a shaft of non-circular cross-section oscillatably mounted in parallel relation to the rod and adjacent thereto, a selector block slidably mounted on the shaft and having a non-circular bore corresponding to the cross-sectional configuration of the shaft, and a projection on the selector block adapted to engage and oscillate a key holder when the selector block is brought into alignment with the particular key holder and oscillated in the proper direction.

5. A key case including a rod, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted on the rod, a shaft oscillatably mounted in spaced relation to the rod, a selector block slidably mounted on the shaft and keyed thereto, lateral projections on said key holders, and a lateral projection on said selector block adapted to cooperate with any selected one of the key holders when the selector block is moved into alignment therewith.

6. A key case including a frame, a rod mounted therein, a plurality of key holders oscillatably mounted in spaced relation to the rod, a shaft oscillatably mounted in spaced relation to the rod, a selector block slidably mounted on the shaft and keyed thereto, a series of stop elements on the frame and a cooperating stop element on the selector block for releasably holding the latter in the desired adjusted position, and a projection of the selector block adapted to engage and oscillate a selected key holder when the selector'block is brought into alignment with a particular key holder and oscillated in the proper direction about its axis.

STANLEY S. LANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

